Saturday, August 29, 2009

Things Are Looking Up!

Yes! It's true! I am in a much better place right now. So it's Saturday, the weekend. Restful? Doubtful. I biked like 20+ miles today! That's some Lance Armstrong shit. So my host mother and I biked to Belgium today which was wonderful. We went to this monastery which kinda straddles the border and criss crosses here and there. We pulled our bikes in and parked near the cafe in the monastery (because how else are monks going to make money? just wait). Then my host mother informs me there is a BEER supermarket attached to the monastery. Yes, my friends, it's true. The monks brew beer in their spare time. They are not saying the rosary or whatever else the Catholics try and make a front with. They are playing PONG.

Ok. Slight embellishment.

It was really cool though, I'm not going to lie. There were all these different beer classes of the different Belgian beers and sometimes my host dad makes runs down here when they're feeling some Belgian holy alcohol. With the children ocassionally (they told a funny little anecdote where they went all they way down there and Erik is paying for it and Dennis just goes "But Dad, that's ALCOHOL!" laughlaughlaugh). We biked into the closest Belgian village and it started to pour so we took refuge under the entrance to a restaurant. We went a little further and I decided Belgium was boring so we turned back. Saw some REALLY pretty Dutch scenary (Check Facebook if you're my friend - if you're not, I guess you can creep and add me).

Besides that, yesterday I got to talking with my host parents for a while about traveling and such (I suppose I'll try and keep it a little hush hush because I know AFS disapproves of such talk - but I want to travel a ton here). As a VWO5 (my track in school) there will be a trip this year! I get to choose between Rome, Oxford/Cambridge, Barcelona, Paris, and Berlin! I already think I know which I'll choose but who knows, if they're on different dates maybe I'll meander my way into more than one. I'm really excited for the AFS trip in October to Berlin and even the orientation in two weeks! Fellow AFSers are always just really helpful in exchange and I can verify that on many levels. With my host parents we've talked about travel around Belgium, Germany, and hopefully I can see some people like Julia and Lauren in Paris.

Yesterday I also got to hang out with a fellow AFSer, Catherina van Canada. She was a nice girl of 15 who is also here for the year and is relatively close by. So I creeped and called her up and asked if she wanted to hang out. We sat at her house and talked for a little then wandered around Valkenswaard, the town she lives in just south of me.

I don't anticipate anything exciting happening in the next week really...My host parents have friends coming in next Saturday who they said love art so we may be going to some museums in Eindhoven. Besides that...just waiting till school. Oh yeah, and we're gonna go talk to the people at Van Maerlant this week to see if they don't mind me coming there this year (so what if I chose the farther, bigger school? It looked the nicest on the outside - and that's what really counts, right?)

About Me

My name is Patrick Matthews, I'm a graduate of Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio (09!). I accepted admission to Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana but deferred to take part in an AFS year program to the Netherlands. I am a returnee from AFS Panama summer program, a host brother, a liason, and now a year student! Watch what happens.